The Phantom Pain is Really Metal Gear Solid 5, Complete With Trailer

One of the biggest announcements at the VGAs was a entirely new game from and entirely new developer. Somehow, Moby Dick Studio got its original IP, The Phantom Pain, some prime time real-estate after Gearbox snatched up a Borderlands 2 award. How such an unknown team landed the spot is still a mystery to the untrained eye, but it makes a lot more sense once you read between the lines.

A lot of speculation has been cast over the true nature of this game. Not that anybody doubts it exists because they actually showed off some footage, however the shady developer Moby Dick Studio, based out of Stockholm, Sweden, has been put under the magnifying lens on the NeoGAF forums, and they’ve turned up some intriguing news.

The development team’s website looks legitimate enough, with a mission statement and everything.

“Moby Dick Studio is a game developing company operating out of Stockholm, Sweden. Moby Dick Studio was founded by CEO Joakim Mogren who after years of working for a major American developer brought together people out of various game studios from around the Scandinavian area to start something new.

Joakim Mogren is a guy who has worked with major American developers over the years. Funny that I’ve never heard of him. Well, the name of CEO Joakim Mogren might look like a normal if not slightly foreign name at first, but after rearranging the letters, a familiar name begins to take shape. J-O-A-K-I-M…Kojima, as in the one and only Hideo Kojima. Through this and comparing screenshots, the forum is convinced that The Phantom Pain in is fact, Metal Gear Solid 5.

The reveal trailer and recent batch of screenshots don’t even pretend to be anything else. The dude in bandages is clearly Big Boss. This whole thing reeks of the kind of twisted viral marketing ploy Kojima would do.

I’m not even going to bother labeling this one as “maybe.” With all that’s been uncovered, there is no doubt in my mind. We just saw the announcement for Metal Gear Solid 5.

NeoGAF has never been one to break stories subtly, and their obsession with uncovering every secret of the gaming world sometimes goes a bit too far. However, they have a lot to go on here. Check out their extensive research for even more fun Metal Gear Solid speculation. It’s certainly a wonderful time to be a fan with two huge productions underway.